The Beat is New Mexico!---Do we have to be stuck at the bottom of the barrel?--- Perspectives from Southern NM and the border region

Monday, February 1, 2016

SUNLAND PARK CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR

Javier Perea, Sunland Park Candidate for Mayor

Javier Perea was appointed Mayor in 2012, after Daniel Salinas, who was elected to the position that year, was not allowed to serve. He has a degree in business administration from NMSU. His salary as Mayor is $26,000 per year. This will be his first electoral campaign. I interviewed Mr. Perea in his office last week, beginning with a wide-open-ended question which he snatched up like a basketball player above the rim going for a slam dunk:

(a) Sunland Park is one of the fastest growing cities in the state, growing from about 14,000 in 2010 to about 16,000-17,000 today. It is the Northern part of the city, where the new district is, that is growing fastest. The recent redistricting of city council seats, which produced the new district, was needed in order to equalize the number of voters in each district. (b) The financial situation of the city has improved greatly in the past two years. Audit findings have been reduced from 40 to 5, and the city is no longer on the at-risk list. (c) the demographic character of the city is changing, and it may even lose its status as a "colonia" (a designation used for areas not up to minimal infrastructure standards). (d) Sunland Park is one of the safest small towns in the US, in violent crimes. (e) Improvements in the fire department have resulted in lower insurance rates.

I had to struggle to absorb all of this, given the pace of his speaking, jotting down what I could but probably dropping a point or two. Next, hoping to avoid another slam dunk, I asked him about the status of the proposed international crossing for Sunland Park. This is a sensitive subject, for many reasons. Racino owner Stan Fulton gave Sunland Park a donation of $12 million cash a few years ago when Ruben Segura was mayor to use toward getting the crossing planned, approved and under way. As the city's finances came into question the state has insisted on giving prior approval of expenditures from this fund. An international crossing requires state approval and a presidential blessing. The presidential approval in turn requires an environmental study and all kinds of other hoops to jump through. Governor Martinez at first seemed in favor of the crossing, but the conventional wisdom in Sunland Park is that she is now opposed. There are rumors the state of Chihuahua, favorable at first, is also backing away. The city is paying $90,000 to a border crossing specialist to move the project along, and there is some criticism that, given the growing opposition from the state, this is a waste of money. Finally, the apparent loss of support from the Governor toward the crossing is seen by some as a consequence of, and a reminder of, the scandals of 2012, especially the poor financial condition that brought about state intervention, which damaged the image of the City.

Perea responded that insofar as relations with the state, the City signed a contract paying $575,000 to the Border Authority, an entity of the state, a few years ago for assistance in the crossing, but that there is no evidence the City has "anything to show for it." Thus, although Perea didn't say this directly, he was implying the state has a share in whatever blame might be tossed about in terms of the delay of the project. In spite of this, and the apparent loss of support from the Governor, the City is moving along with the project, and has put out an RFP (request for proposals) for firms to bid on taking over the project. As for what appears to be growing opposition from the state, Perea indicated the negative image of the City after the scandals of 2012 contributed to this, making it all the more urgent to turn this image around.

Changing subjects, I asked what was at stake in the upcoming elections. Perea responded that there needs to be a change in both the culture of the council and in the culture of the city staff, and that continuity is needed with the direction the city has undertaken so far. He hopes if elected to stimulate more community engagement with the City through creation of more committees; he wants to undertake a more comprehensive plan for the city's future; he wants to continue working on an "entertainment corridor," building on the existing racino and on part of the vision Ruben Segura had for Sunland Park; and he hopes to find ways to increase the city's budget. At various points in the interview he stressed the need for greater citizen involvement.

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About Me

Dr. Jose Z. Garcia taught at New Mexico State for three decades before becoming Secretary of Higher Education from 2010 through 2014. He specializes in Latin America, the U.S.-Mexico border, and New Mexico politics. He was chairman of the Democratic Party in Dona Ana County the early 1980s. He is currently working on a book on governing New Mexico.

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Detailed Profile

Dr. Jose Z. Garcia retired from state government in January 2105 after serving for four years as Secretary of Higher Education in New Mexico.Prior to this appointment he was a faculty member at New Mexico State University for more than three decades, specializing in Latin American politics.He has lectured in every Spanish-speaking country in Latin America and written extensively on Latin American militaries, civil wars, coups, and the U.S.-Mexico border.He has received numerous research grants to, including awards from the Ford, Hewlett, and Wilson Foundations, and the federal government.He directed the Title VI Latin American program for 13 years at NMSU, as part of a nationally ranked UNM-NMSU consortium.He was a co-founder of the Paso del Norte Water Task Force, an international organization convening major water managers and experts in the binational region, and chaired the organization in 2010.He currently writes a blog, la politica new mexico, dealing with New Mexico politics and the U.S.-Mexico border.He is bilingual in English and Spanish.

As Secretary of Higher Education Dr. Garcia was responsible for the oversight of 24 institutions of higher learning, recommending to the legislature the distribution of about $1.2 billion among the institutions; performing institutional audits when necessary; distributing student financial aid; administering two federal grant programs; monitoring private and proprietary institutions; conducting policy research; and recommending higher education policy directions.He was also active as Chair of the $2.3 billion Education Trust Fund, strengthening the college savings plan for New Mexicans.During his tenure Dr. Garcia created the first performance-based funding formula, rewarding institutions for performance rather than for costs of operation.He secured a voluntary two-year moratorium on new buildings on public campuses, and began an analysis of the supply and demand for New Mexico higher education graduates in the New Mexico workforce.He initiated the first sustained agenda between New Mexico Higher Education and the four New Mexico Tribal Colleges, advocating for stronger ties between the states and the tribes in issues of higher education; and hosted various conferences related to improving college completion rates in New Mexico—closing the achievement gap, improving college readiness, improving remediation rates; setting college completion goals for institutions, creating a better workforce through higher education, and orientations for boards of regents.He was a member of the board of the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE), and the State Higher Education Executive Officers association.He served as a delegate to U.S.-Mexico Border Governors’ conferences and to New Mexico-Chihuahua and New Mexico-Sonora conferences.

After receiving a BA from Occidental College, Dr. Garcia was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to Ecuador.He received an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a PhD from the University of New Mexico.He spent two years teaching international relations and other subjects at the U.S. Army School of the Americas at Ft. Benning, where he received a teaching award and went to Jump School.

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